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James, Jennifer, Georgina. Are the Butlers. Father, mother, daughter.
The autobiography of a family.
An autopsy of book design.
A story
Written between the lines of 1136 meticulously documented postcards, spanning ten years of travel, is the tale of the Butler family. It is a story of abandonment and love, of sickness and health, and of a marriage in transit.
In this bright-yellow, 1200-page volume, world-renowned designer Irma Boom carefully and thoroughly retraces the journey of a lifetime. Her Yellow Book is a monument to book design, and an epic family portrait.
A story in postcards
From 1989 to 1999, James and I drove 270,000 miles together. As the roads unrolled, I would think about our daughter Georgina, about what to tell her. We travelled to save James and to protect our daughter. And every day we were apart I wrote to her.
The first act of the book—an exquisitely printed selection of postcards, penned in Jennifer’s steady hand, with James’ irregular interjections—sets the calm, but relentless pace, in which the Butlers confront their obstacles; mile by mile, stamp by stamp, one day at a time.
Stamped this week in 1994
En route à l’Angleterre, lundi, le 12 décembre 1994
Petrol is 6.07 FF per litre. Étonnant! I had to replace the windscreen wipers just before Vienne. They were 150 FF bien installées.
Quelle année. The year I was liberated from French illiteracy, the year we finished The Mas, the year of Whistler, Poussin, Caillibotte, and ‘The Glory of Venice’. What a mélange.
Stamped this week in 1995
Mardi, le 12 décembre 1995
One sees many totems depicting ancestors (exquisite, elegant wood carvings) because ancestors are thought to be the senior figures in a society.
Africa is enormous with about 20 countries in it, starting at Egypt and going on to South Africa. A long way from home but we will be home soon.
Mercredi, le 13 décembre 1995, James’s birthday
It started last night: we saw Maggie Smith in ‘Three Tall Women’, the best play I have ever seen. I have seen good theatre but not a play that affected me so much personally. Lunch with Mollie Butler (88 years old) “Oh, I’m getting old. I get tired. I don’t hear as well. Two hearing aids. I’ve got dandruff”.
Vendredi, le 15 décembre 1995
I had to drive miles and miles (300) today to go to work and see a friend in hospital. Two days ago everyone thought he was dying so he married his girlfriend in the hospital. Now he has made a miraculous recovery.
Stamped this week in 1996
Jeudi, le 12 decembre 1996
One day to go to be 60. A wonderful party and I got 2 parking tickets, so very expensive as well! Malcolm gave me a V.T.T. so we can go out ensemble.
Friday, 13 December 1996, James’s 60th birthday
We didn’t have boeuf for dinner but foie gras and salmon and lobster and cheese and even after no breakfast, no lunch, we were all stuffed. The abbey clock chimed all night.
A story in many postcards
As many days as there are clouds.
October 1989
November 1989
December 1989
January 1990
March 1990
May 1990
June 1990
July 1990
August 1990
September 1990
November 1990
February 1991
March 1991
April 1991
May 1991
June 1991
July 1991
August 1991
A story with conversations
The second act of the saga takes place a decade after the Butlers’ journey ends, when their daughter Georgina is coming of age. In 21 transcribed, informal conversations, the family openly and honestly discusses their shared history, recorded on the postcards.
Conversation Twenty-one [Excerpt]
James Jennifer Georgina
Manor Farm, Dorset, Friday, 21 May, 2010
Jennifer It’s the last dialogue and the theme—surprise, surprise—is the postcards. I’ve read and reread the postcards so many times.
Georgina When did we start keeping them? Why weren’t they thrown out?
Jennifer My intent was always to give you a history of me, of us, of Dad because I was denied that. I don’t even have a photograph of me with my mother. Not one. YES. I wanted someone to know I became part of a family and, as it turned out, a very ancient family. My life began with me. I have no information about my ancestors. So I married a husband with a great ancestry. [Uncertain if this is funny or sad]
James I think Mumm did have a lot of guilt about being away so much. It was complicated. It was a way of keeping in touch and keeping me alive.
Georgina Why did the postcards stop?
A story about family
I don’t remember you and Dad at all before seven.
In the third, and last act of the book, the Butlers’ story is presented in yet a different way. An intimate selection of pictures from family albums, depicts the protagonists, as their lives unfold, both separately and together.
A book
In this exclusive, limited-edition tome, internationally acclaimed bookmaker Irma Boom explores narrative structure and storytelling, in relation to graphic design. Respectfully, yet uncompromisingly, she captures the true story of a family; its beauty, but also its reality.
As equally extraordinary and innovative as the narrative structure, is the design of the rich yellow object itself. A unique three part spine was especially developed for this nine centimeters-thick book, allowing it to open effortlessly at any page.
A book by Irma Boom
Amsterdam-based graphic designer Irma Boom's prolific and influential body of work (currently consisting of over 250 books) focuses on the elemental and formal aspects of book design—size, paper, structure, and binding—in relation to the content. During a time when the lineage of book printing history is rapidly changing course, Irma’s designs have brought her international recognition, and commissions including Chanel, Ferrari and the United Nations. She has received numerous honors and awards, including the prestigious Gutenberg‑Preis and Johannes Vermeer Prijs. Irma’s work has been exhibited in museums worldwide, and is included in the permanent collections of the MoMA, and the University of Amsterdam.
A book as a portrait
During the creation of this book, which entailed an intensive, three-year collaboration between Irma Boom and the Butlers, she invited renowned Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf to make portraits of the family, in his signature style.
A book of the Butlers
I have come back to the family.
Purchase
ISBN 978-0-9566266-0-8
Unsigned editions of James Jennifer Georgina for € 666.
Signed editions of James Jennifer Georgina for € 3000.
Display copies of James Jennifer Georgina are available at the following bookstores, museums and collections:
New York
MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art)
11 West 53 Street
New York, New York 10019-5497
+1 212 7089400
http://moma.org
Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago
111 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60603-6404
+1 312 4433600
http://artic.edu
Paris
The American Library in Paris
10, rue du Général Camou
75007 Paris
+33 1 53591260
http://americanlibraryinparis.org
Amsterdam
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Museumplein 10
1071 DJ Amsterdam
+31 20 5732911
http://stedelijk.nl
UvA Special Collections
Oude Turfmarkt 129
1012 GC Amsterdam
+31 20 5257300
http://bijzonderecollecties.uva.nl
Nijhof & Lee
Oude Turfmarkt 129
1012 GC Amsterdam
+31 20 5257300
http://www.nijhoflee.nl
Eindhoven
Van Abbemuseum
Bilderdijklaan 10
5611 NH Eindhoven
+31 40 2381000
http://vanabbemuseum.nl
Contact
Erasmus Publishing Limited
Manor Farm
West Chelborough
Dorset, DT2 0PY
United Kingdom
Phone +44 1935 83790
Email info@erasmuspublishing.com
Website erasmuspublishing.com
Colophon
Book design and concept by Irma Boom, http://irmaboom.nl
With photos by Erwin Olaf, http://www.erwinolaf.com
Website design and texts by Joris Landman, http://jorislandman.com
Product photos by Ivan Jones, http://ivan-jones.co.uk
Published by Erasmus Publishing Limited, http://erasmuspublishing.com
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